Korean Job Discussion Forums

[efemmera]

I have a friend who worked in a public school who said the children were so cheeky that they would smack him on the arse when he bent over. He said he was powerless to do anything as only Korean teachers have the right to discipline the students. Is this an unusual or common practice. Thanks.

[E_athlete]

[andrewchon]

efemmera:
If the kid is K-2, it's a sign of affection. Once they find out you're a pussycat, they'll do a lot worse. You're not a pussycat, you're a panther. Demonstrate what a good class is, then they might even become one. They probably won't but one can try. Discipline in Korean elementary is a tightrope walk. It'll take too long to explain it all here. You'll have to do some research. It's your duty to teach them kids. If an action is needed to make them happen, then carry out the action, and stand by your decision.

[efemmera]

Just to clarify, I wasn't suggesting corporal punishment as a form of discipline. Is it commonr for Korean children to be smacked or hit with a stick by their teachers?

[andrewchon]

If you say common, then no. It's not common practice in elementary. Middle and High schools, different story. It doesn't mean it's outlawed. It's up to you. Do you feel you can discipline a student yourself and handle the subsequent events? What are the subsequent events? A kid might cry and you might get suspended or fired. Maybe your co-teacher will back you up. Do you feel strong enough?

[TheUrbanMyth]

[Fishead soup]

This behavour is completly unacceptable by Korean standards.
Grab the kid by the ear and drag him into the teachers staff room. Tell everyone in the teachers staff room what he/she did. If they don't treat this sitution serviously start looking for another public school position. You can't afford to let this situation slide.

[Rory_Calhoun27]

it amazes how different some kids will act toward the Foreign and Korean teachers.... and yet the school cannot even accept this as a possibility....

this was just one of a couple recurring themes with my co-teachers, who always somehow were unable to find ANY time for meetings with me to discuss ongoing problems BEFORE they got worse....

[Fishead soup]

[iggyb]

[Epicurus]

depends on the age of the kid.

today I was walking back from lunch cafeteria and kids were saying hello (i teach hs) and one smart aleck said... pig.... you..... pig..

I know they like saying it to each other.. but in this instance I felt it was directed at me and he was showing off to his friends.

so I walked over and put my arm around him and his neck.. not too hard, but hard enough where he could feel I could snap it without too much effort.

and asked him - what did you say?

he tried getting away from arm... then mumbled... mee.. Englishee.. no.

then I asked did you call ME a pig??

he said.. no no.... and pointed at another kid.

as he's still trying to escape the arm, I tighten it ever so slightly...

said.. PIG?
ME?

and then said a new Korean word/phrase I just learned.

joo-boo-lay?

(do you want to die?)

now his friends are laughing.

I remove my arm, he massages his shoulders and the attempt to look cool in front of his friends probably didn't succeed

[andrewchon]

Yes, Koreans fear the cemetry because they grow up listening to ghost stories. It's sort of like a lullaby, like "Russians are coming", "Swedes are coming", watch out for boogi-man, sandman, told to children to make them go to bed. Toilet ghost is one who fell in the cesspit and died. Virgin ghosts are over-sexed girls who died before marriage so didn't experience her 'first-night'. Do-gge-bi is an underling of the emperor of the underworld. Ga-nan-gui-shin makes you poor a.k.a. your Hagwon-boss.

[iggyb]

I remember my adults students telling me a rumor that champion female golfer Se Ri Pak's father had forced her to walk backwards at night through a cemetery to hone her nerves...

[Changwon Charlie]

[efemmera]

Absolutely brilliant!